The Invocation of Saints was a Practice even in the Old Testament Time: When Jacob gave his Blessing to his Sons, Gen. xlviii. Ver. 16. he said these Words, The Angel, which redeemed me from all Evil, bless the Lads; and let my Name be named on them, and the Name of my Fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a Multitude in the midst of the Earth. What can be a better Proof of the Invocation of the Angels, and the Holy Patriarchs? The Scripture gives us another Proof of it in 1 Sam. vii. Ver. 8. where the Children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the Hand of the Philistines. From thence I infer, that by honouring the Saints who are dead in the Lord, by calling upon them, by worshipping their sacred Relics, we do in no wise rob God of any Part of his Glory; on the contrary, I believe, we augment it. The Honour, which we pay to the Saints, strengthens our Hope, renders it more lively, more vehement, and creates a greater Desire in us to tread in their Steps.
Jesus Christ himself was persuaded, that in his State, as Man, the Protection of the Angels was able to deliver him out of the Hand of the Jews; and of this he gave Demonstration, when he commanded St. Peter to put up his Sword again into
his Place, because, said he, Matt. xxvi. Ver. 53. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than Twelve Legions of Angels? St. Augustin, in the Eighth Book of The City of God, Chap. xvii. says, Summa Religionis est imitari quem colis, i. e. The Sum and Substance of Religion is, to imitate the Being you worship. From hence I infer, that we ought to imitate the Saints, to honour and respect them; and by honouring them, we call upon them, because by honouring them, we have an Opportunity to lay our Necessities before them, to the end that they may obtain that Assistance and Favour of God which is necessary for us.
I say, that we ought also to call more particularly upon the Holy Virgin than the other Saints: Because she is the Mother of God, would it not be impious to say, that she deserves not to be invok’d? Who is more proper than a Mother to obtain Favour from a Son? Who can better reconcile us with God than the Virgin? She flies to the Holy Altar of Reconciliation, and does not only repair thither as a Supplicant, but as an Empress, according to the very Words of St. Peter Damien, Serm. xliv. Nativ. Virg. Accedis ante illud aureum reconciliationis humanæ Altare, non solum rogans, sed imperans, Domina, non Ancilla, i. e. Thou presentest thyself before that Golden Altar of Mankind’s Reconciliation, not only petitioning as a Servant, but commanding as a Sovereign. What can excuse us from honouring and reverencing the Being, by whom we receive our Deliverance, our Preservation, and our Life? As St. Augustin says, (De Sancta Virginitate, Chap. VI.) Per Evam Mors, per Mariam Salus, i. e. By Eve came Death, by Mary Salvation.
I have no Reason to doubt but the Saints hear us, because I believe the Testimonies of the Holy Fathers: St. Gregory of Nazianzen was of this Opinion, when he says in his Twentieth Epistle, Illud persuasum Sanctorum animum res nostras sentire, i. e. I am persuaded, that the Saints are sensible of our Affairs; and St. Gregory of Nissa, in the Nineteenth Prayer which he makes to St. Theodore, says; Quanquam tu vitam hanc transcendisti, humanas tamen molestias et necessitates non ignoras; impetra nobis pacem, i. e. Altho’ thou art got beyond this Life, yet thou art not ignorant of the Troubles and Necessities of Mankind; intercede for Peace for us. There are several other Holy Men, who have believ’d and declar’d, that the Angels meet those that pray, in order to receive and conduct them to the Throne of Glory, Et suspicientes eos usque ad Thronum Gloria sancti Dei perducunt. Because the Saints hear our Prayers, I infer, that we are obliged to pray for them: And indeed if the Saints did not hear us, ’twould be to no more Purpose to invoke them, than it would be for their hearing us, if we did not call upon them.
I honour therefore and call upon the Blessed, who enjoy celestial Glory, and I will invoke them even to the last Breath of my Life, at which time I shall have more need of their Assistance: I will invoke them as long as I live: The Holy Scripture teaches me that God himself has given Praise to some of the Saints. In fine, upon their Protection do I found my Hopes; if it be true, that the Saints in Heaven rejoice when but one Sinner is converted and repenteth, how can I doubt but the Saints, when they are invok’d by Penitents, will relieve them, and obtain that
Pardon for their Sins, and that Grace which they stand in need of?
XXXVIII. Since we ought to call upon the Saints, and since they hear our Prayers, I believe, that I am oblig’d to honour their Images, their Tombs, as well as their sacred Relics; and if I have a Respect for a Piece of Painting that represents the Likeness of my King, or of any Sovereign, hew much more Reason have I to venerate whatsoever represents to me the Saints, who are far above the Princes of this World, because they are the Friends of God, and our Protectors with him?
The Use of Images has been allow’d at all times: God himself order’d the making of Figures and Images: For Example, the Cherubims of Propitiation and the Brazen Serpent were made by his Command. And when the Heretics say, that God forbids Images, they are in the Wrong: God indeed forbids us to make Images to worship them, but this is what I am not guilty of; for the Respect which I pay to Images is not for the Sake of what they are, but for what they represent to me: ’Tis not to the Images that I address my Prayer; and whenever I fall on my Knees before an Image, ’tis because I am willing to honour and pray to the Saint, whom it represents to me.
Images put me in Mind of the History of the Old and New Testament: They remind me of all the Favours God has bestow’d upon me; which engages me the more fervently to love and serve him. Finally, the Images of the Saints create a Desire in us to imitate the Sanctity of their Lives and Actions.